In The News

Unemployment dips to 4.8% with 316,000 jobs added to payrolls last month.

The Teamsters strike United Parcel Service and there’s no doubt businesses will be hurt. The company says it can absorb the impact of a short strike. Over a million companies rely on UPS to deliver 12 million packages daily.

A Korean Air 747 crashes on Guam – 219 are reported dead and 35 survived.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno apologizes to Richard Jewell for the disclosure that he was the prime suspect in last year’s bombing at the Atlanta Olympic games. Eighty-eight days after his name first surfaced, the FBI publicly dropped him as a suspect. “I don’t think any apology is sufficient when somebody has gone through what… Mr. Jewell has gone through.”

Armed police raid a Brooklyn apartment and find five bombs that prosecutors charge were destined for a terrorist attack on New York’s subway system. It was a close call. When police entered the apartment, they wounded two suspects to prevent them from detonating one of the devices – but one switch was activated.

Technology news – August 1, 1997

Microsoft says it is investing $150 million in competitor Apple Computer in an alliance that stuns the industry. Apple said it has agreed to make Microsoft’s Internet Explorer the default browser of its Macintosh operating system. The alliance pits them against Netscape and Sun Microsystems in the area of developing software for the Internet.

“Buddy” the dog star of Disney’s “Air Bud” loses his right leg to cancer. He began limping at the end of the movie’s filming, but a Disney spokesman says the dog has recovered enough to still shoot hoops.

Passing – William S. Burroughs (83) – a figure in the Beat movement of the 1950’s. Co-founder of the Naked Lunch movement and author who wrote about addiction and sex.

Television news – August 1, 1997

Beavis and Butt-head’s final MTV episode will air October 10. Creator Mike Judge says there will be no more new episodes (after some 220). He says he is busy with other projects and has decided to move on. The pair may show-up in specials or another movie.

Top TV Shows/Ratings – August 1, 1997

Seinfeld – 17.20

20/20 – 15.00

Suddenly Susan – 14.38

ER – 14.36

Touched By An Angel – 13.73

60 Minutes – 13.61

Dateline NBC (Mon.) – 13.17

Law & Order – 12.73

Movie-In Best of Families – 12.51

Friends – 12.13

Dateline NBC (Tue.) - 12.06

Men Behaving Badly – 12.06

Movie-Lies of the Heart – 11.99

X-Files – 11.65

Home Improvement – 11.62

Dateline NBC (Fri.) – 11.42

Drew Carey – 11.34

PrimeTime Live – 11.13

48 Hours (Wed.) – 10.95

Spin City – 10.67

Frasier – 10.66

Movie-She Fought Alone – 10.56

Movie-Is There Life Out There? – 10.37

Diagnosis Murder – 10.32

Ellen – 10.31

Music news – August 1, 1997

George Harrison is OK after having a small lump removed from his neck a few weeks ago.

C. DeLores Tucker, who’s known for criticizing rap songs and lyrics, files suit in federal court, contending that Tupack Shakur’s estate should pay her $10 million because the lyrics on a 1996 album made derogatory references to her. Among other things, the anguish caused by lyrics diminished her sex life.